Stephen Cruise: Share the Moment
May 8 to August 28
Off-Site at the Sheppard Plaza
4400 Bathurst Street (NW corner of Sheppard)
View pics from the opening on our Flickr page here.
Share the Moment explores the North York landscape at a specific moment in the past to re-articulate its significance in the present. Toronto-based artist Stephen Cruise instills new life into the forgotten Kodak Fotomat: a drive-through photo-processing booth. By transforming the former Fotomat in the parking lot of the Sheppard Plaza, Cruise delves into a nostalgic era when film-based processing and car-centric convenience were novel. He revives this obsolete structure with photographs collected from the local community. These images are screened onto the windows of the booth in a continuous slideshow, illustrating neighbourhood life during the 1970s. By covering the kiosk with a photomontage that reproduces the image of a tree, Cruise invests the location with symbolism, positioning it as a tree of life that connects and preserves memories.
With its exterior refurbished to mimic bark and foliage, the Fotomat stands out against the landscape as a reminder of the impact that consumerism has had on nature. The simulated tree “disguise” uses the built environment to metaphorically reverse the obliteration of the natural landscape. The snapshots screened on the kiosk’s windows reconstruct a fragment in the history of the local community.
Share the Moment is a Featured Exhibition of Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival. Exhibition is open until August 28 - daily, 24 hours/day.
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